"I'm ready," Gray responded with a nod and ready to follow as he needed. Though wary at first to climb anything after Nick's prank, he wasn't that much a sourpuss to let it stick.

As soon as they were close, his mind slips to Venus, and the eight arenas she'd experienced along with Sigma's. Hell, this was the reason he was delivering these roses in the first place: to at least give her something to that effect. This was his way of acknowledging his gratitude for not dumping his scrawny ass to the curb as others might have.

"You've killed some of these?" Now he's impressed.